UM Forestry College to Host Mass Timber Workshop, Kiosk Dedication

MISSOULA – The W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana will host a kiosk dedication and mass timber workshop Thursday, May 2 on the University campus.

Free and open the public, the events are slated to celebrate the emerging environmental and economic benefits of mass timber construction across the planning, architecture and construction industries. Mass timber construction refers to large-scale timber products created from small-timber resources. The material is largely a carbon-neutral resource and is gaining popularity in green building initiatives across the country.

The rising demand for mass timber construction for its environmental benefits is attractive for Montana’s cornerstone natural resource economy, said Tom DeLuca, dean of the forestry college. That’s because most large-scale commercial construction is dominated by steel and concrete, which causes significant carbon emissions and accounts for about 8 percent of carbon emission globally. Montana also has the capacity to sustainably produce, harvest and mill large quantities of timber.

“Mass timber construction, combined with sustainable forest management on public and private lands, can make Montana a leader in achieving a more sustainable future,” DeLuca said. “Mass timber construction reduces the dependence on steel and concrete and greatly reduces carbon emission as building with mass timber is, at a minimum, carbon neutral.”

A single 40-by-10-foot panel was donated, in part, to the University by SmartLam and F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber. Cut into three smaller subpanels to resemble a tree, the structure was designed and engineered by Seattle-based engineers and architects who are industry leaders in mass timber construction. The kiosk was erected on the UM campus in early February.

The project also was supported by the U.S. Forest Service Wood Innovation Program and private donations.

Cross laminated timber is a mass timber material created from gluing together perpendicular layers of dimensional lumber to create a large structural panel.

Nicknamed the CLTree, the purpose of the kiosk is to increase awareness of the function, utility and efficacy of mass timber construction and assist in the college’s efforts to explore the potential construction of a mass timber educational facility at the University to house the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation ̶ what eventually could become “a state-of-the-art facility built from sustainably produced Montana resources to meet the highest green building standard,” DeLuca said.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the CLTree will take place at 1 p.m. The remaining half-day workshop will feature a series of speakers discussing mass timber construction in University Center Room 332. A networking social will follow the event. Speakers include: